Andy Jones’s Photos of the Year 2012

Cycling Weekly’s Race photographer Andy Jones picks his favourite images from a spectacular year in cycling

Road to glory starts hereMajorca is used by many teams to get the early training miles in. Here, Sky enjoy the warm January sunshine on the island.

Bringing it HameA misty and wet stage three of the Tour Doon Hame. The 20 per cent climb of Talla Linns was headed by Johnny McEvoy, Erik Rowsell and Mike Northey. McEvoy would win the stage in Annan and take the overall too.

Rock hard in RutlandThe CiCle Classic in April was epic, featuring torrential rain, floods and high winds. This shot on the ‘Somerberg’ of the chasing group sums up the testing conditions on the day for riders and photographers. I manually set this exposure but cold, gloved hands seem to have got the better of me as I wouldn’t normally use such a high shutter speed.

Narrow victoryI just managed to get this shot of Russell Downing on his way to winning the Lincoln GP as he’s framed by a photographer on the left and the TV bike crossing my line of sight to the right.

Drenched DowsettNational TT champion Alex Dowsett had a crack at taking the National 25 title on a wet A19 course in June but just missed out to Michael Hutchinson on the day. However, Dowsett would retain his national TT title later in the year.

Stannard strikes outAmpleforth hosted the National Championships on tough North Yorkshire roads, and saw sunshine and heavy showers. Ian Stannard, Alex Dowsett and Russell Hampton escaped, with Stannard finally making a solo effort to take a deserved title.

Holding out for a heroA grabbed shot of a thoughtful-looking Philippe Gilbert fan as he stands on a lofty vantage point in the crowds watching the Tour de France prologue in Liège.

Green lightningStage three of the Tour de France and Peter Sagan lines up to pass Michael Albasini with 200 metres to go. The Slovak road race champion took his second stage win here in Boulogne after having already taken the Tour’s first stage in Seraing. Another win, stage six in Metz, helped him consolidate his grip on the green points jersey, which he held all the way to Paris.

Ring masterThe Olympic rings reflect up into Bradley Wiggins’s visor as he crosses the line to take the Olympic time trial.

All eyes on KennyJason Kenny is the focus of attention after beating Grégory Baugé in the Olympic sprint final. I like the reaction of sprint coach Jan van Eijden on the left indicating Kenny is ‘the man’.

A star is bornFamily, friends and team-mates congratulate Laura Trott as she snatches Olympic gold after a fabulous omnium 500m TT performance, the final event of the six-round competition.

Wise wordsUS rider Allison Jones on the podium with the message: ‘Live life without limitations.’

One for the family albumSarah and Barney Storey both won gold medals at the London Paralympics. Barney was pilot for Neil Fachie and won gold in the 1km TT in the Velodrome. Sarah won a total of four golds, two on the track and two on the road, to equal Tanni Grey-Thompson’s 11 Paralympic gold medal tally.

Comeback completeThe story of former racing driver Alex Zanardi is remarkable. He lost both legs in 2001 in an accident during the American Memorial 500 race in Germany. Zanardi came back to motor racing and then took up a new challenge in hand-cycling, securing double gold at the London 2012 Paralympics on the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit.

Lovely boating weatherI have the Cutler family to thank for letting me up onto their apartment balcony to overlook the start of stage one of the Tour of Britain at Ipswich Marina. I used a zoom lens here at 42mm but also shot a few frames with a fisheye lens which have already appeared in Cycling Weekly and Cycle Sport.

Hunt at homeDevon flags are waved on the roadside as Jeremy Hunt rides on his home county roads during stage seven of the Tour of Britain. Hunt retired from racing at the end of the season.

Peak kingThe 50th running of the Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross was memorable for the wind and rain that added to the difficulty of this challenging event. Rob Jebb, seen here on the descent of Pen-y-ghent would take his ninth win.

PassionA study of Jack Pullar fans as they urge their man upwards to take the national-hill climb title on the Rake in Lancashire.

MudlarkThe National Trophy cyclo-cross event in Ipswich proved to be another wet day in the calendar but it made for some memorable images, as seen here of race winner Kevin Eeckhout.

Dynamic duoWorld and Olympic champion Laura Trott is urged on by coach Paul Manning in the 500m TT to win the omnium at the Track World Cup at Glasgow’s new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.